Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2003 Aug;20(8):332-42.
doi: 10.1023/a:1024865725713.

Assisted hatching--a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Hassan N Sallam  1 , Sameh S Sadek, Abdel Fattah Agameya
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Assisted hatching--a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Hassan N Sallam et al. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2003 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on assisted hatching.

Methods: One hundred sixty-five studies were retrieved from the literature, but only 13 of them fitted our selection criteria. The meta-analysis was conducted using the RevMan software with the Peto-modified Mantel-Haenszel method.

Results: Assisted hatching increases the pregnancy [OR (+/-95% CI) = 2.51 (1.91-3.29)], implantation [OR (+/-95% CI) = 2.38 (1.87-3.03)], and ongoing pregnancy rates [OR (+/-95% CI) = 2.65 (1.85-3.79)] significantly in poor prognosis patients undergoing IVF or ICSI. For patients with repeated IVF failures, the OR (+/-95% CI) were 2.84 (1.99-4.06) for pregnancy, 2.53 (1.85-3.47) for implantation, and 3.51 (2.12-5.82) for ongoing pregnancy rates, in favor of assisted hatching.

Conclusions: Assisted hatching increases the pregnancy, implantation, and ongoing pregnancy rates significantly in patients with a poor prognosis undergoing IVF or ICSI, particularly those with repeated failures.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Edwards RG. Clinical approaches to increasing uterine receptivity during human implantation. Hum Reprod. 1995;10:60–66. - PubMed
    1. Tucker MJ, Luecke NM, Wiker SR, Wright G. Chemical removal of the outside of the zona pellucida of day 3 human embryos has no impact on implantation rate. J Assist Reprod Genet. 1993;10:187–191. - PubMed
    1. Antinori S, Panci C, Selman HA, Caffa B, Dani G, Versaci C. Zona thinning with the use of laser: A new approach to assisted hatching in humans. Hum Reprod. 1996;11:590–594. - PubMed
    1. Cohen J, Alikani M, Trowbridge J, Rosenwaks Z. Implantation enhancement by selective assisted hatching using zona drilling of human embryos with poor prognosis. Hum Reprod. 1992;7:685–691. - PubMed
    1. Stein A, Rufas O, Amit S, Avrech O, Pinkas H, Ovadia J, Fisch B. Assisted hatching by partial zona dissection of human pre-embryos in patients with recurrent implantation failure after in vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril. 1995;63:838–841. - PubMed